I detest war. It spoils armies.
—Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, c. 1820You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war.
—William Randolph Hearst, 1898A dead enemy always smells good.
—Aulus Vitellius, 69Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
—Mao Zedong, 1938Don’t talk to me about naval tradition. It’s nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash.
—Winston Churchill, 1939War to the castles; peace to the cottages.
—Nicolas Chamfort, 1790The fear of war is worse than war itself.
—Seneca, c. 50As peace is of all goodness, so war is an emblem, a hieroglyphic, of all misery.
—John Donne, 1622You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.
—Leon TrotskyWar is the child of pride, and pride the daughter of riches.
—Jonathan Swift, 1697Soldiers in peace are like chimneys in summer.
—William Cecil, Lord Burghley, c. 1555I went [to war] because I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want the glory or the pay; I wanted the right thing done.
—Louisa May Alcott, 1863I have loved war too well.
—Louis XIV, 1715War is sweet to those who don’t know it.
—Erasmus, 1508Sometime they’ll give a war and nobody will come.
—Carl Sandburg, 1936There never was a good war or a bad peace.
—Benjamin Franklin, 1773I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. War is hell.
—William Tecumseh Sherman, 1879